Public funding may cover much of your first AI project. We help you apply.
Canada funds AI work through several federal and provincial programs. We help you find the programs you qualify for and apply.
Programs we track
Regional Artificial Intelligence Initiative (RAII)
A federal fund supporting AI adoption and growth projects, delivered in Southern Ontario by FedDev Ontario. Funding for businesses is a repayable contribution, an interest-free loan, not a grant.
Covers up to 50% of eligible project costs. The federal initiative totals roughly $700 million; the Southern Ontario intake is open from October 13, 2026 to January 19, 2027, with an earlier deadline of November 24, 2026 for projects starting before March 31, 2027.
Source: FedDev Ontario, Regional Artificial Intelligence Initiative in Southern Ontario.
SR&ED (Scientific Research & Experimental Development)
A federal tax incentive for R&D work, including applied AI development that resolves genuine technological uncertainty through systematic investigation, not routine API integration. Refundable for many Canadian-controlled private companies, and now for Eligible Canadian Public Corporations too.
35% on the first $6 million of qualifying spend for CCPCs and ECPCs, phasing out between $15 million and $75 million of taxable capital, 15% above that or for other corporations. An optional pre-claim approval process lets you confirm eligibility before you begin planned work, open to corporations and partnerships with gross business income under $25 million.
Source: Canada Revenue Agency, SR&ED Investment Tax Credit Policy (revised October 7, 2026).
NRC IRAP (Industrial Research Assistance Program)
Advisory support and funding for small and medium businesses doing technical innovation, AI included.
Eligibility generally requires an incorporated, profit-oriented Canadian business with 500 or fewer full-time employees. Its AI Assist stream supports generative AI and deep learning R&D; eligible SMEs access it on an ongoing basis through their NRC IRAP Industrial Technology Advisor.
Source: National Research Council Canada, NRC IRAP support for SMEs innovating with AI.
AI Compute Access Fund
Federal support toward the cost of compute for AI projects.
Covered two-thirds of eligible Canadian cloud compute costs and half of non-Canadian cloud compute costs, for projects with eligible compute costs between $100,000 and $5 million. The initial call closed on July 31, 2025, and the fund is not currently accepting applications. We track ISED's page in case a new call opens.
Source: Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, AI Compute Access Fund.
Ontario's Critical Technologies Initiative
A provincial program that funds not-for-profit delivery organizations, such as the Vector Institute, to run AI adoption programming for Ontario businesses.
Businesses do not apply to CTI directly; the Vector Institute received $30 million under CTI in September 2026 to deliver AI adoption support to Ontario SMEs. The CTI application period for delivery organizations is currently closed.
Source: Government of Ontario, Critical Technologies Initiative.
Tell us what you’re building
We’ll check it against what you may qualify for, and help you put the application together.